Internal combustion engines generate emissions that are undesirable for a variety of reasons. It is well known that waste products in engine exhaust such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides adversely affect human health, and present risks to the environment. Diesel engines in particular produce considerable amounts of soot, which contains particulate matter, black carbon, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other hazardous pollutants. Several government agencies regulate emissions of such material.
Increases in engine running time produce increases in waste products and fuel consumption. Operators of Semi-tractor trailers often have sleeping quarters located within the cab to allow sleeping or other activity when the truck is parked and the operator is not driving. Operators often leave the engine running when so parked so that he/she may utilize the climate control features of the cab and to allow powering of auxiliary devices without unacceptable depletion of the battery of the truck's electrical system. Accordingly, the engine of the truck is operated when the truck is not traveling, thereby producing waste products and consuming fuel through idling.
Circuit boards with electronic circuits may be provided with processing instructions to control the operation of the engine of a parked vehicle. The circuit boards may be removably coupled to the electric harness of a vehicle to enable after-market adaptation of a vehicle's control system.